The Basketball Court Swordsman

When Henson was in the slums of New York and had a pleasant conversation with Stephenson, the major online media and newspapers, without Henson’s knowledge, praised him as the absolute protagonist of the basketball game these days.

This mysterious identity has only been in the position of assistant coach for just one year. The young man who had only three years of scouting experience before, jumped onto the position of Pacers’ head coach so quickly, which undoubtedly became popular among everyone. The focus of the discussion. So that Jim O’Brien was quickly forgotten by everyone.

? “From Indiana University, a scout without any basketball experience, it is incredible that he became the head coach of a professional team in only three years, and his operations in the draft are as impressive as his resume. Feeling unprofessional.”

“I understand Larry Bird’s coaching change very well. I can see that he must be completely rebuilt and completely shattered. That’s why he chose such a cheap young man with no reputation as the head coach.”

“He is only 31 years old and most players in the league are older than him. I don’t know how such a young person can build prestige in front of players. Bird is not all-powerful. It turns out that he also makes mistakes. , Such as this change of coaching.”

Henson took Stephenson to Las Vegas to prepare for the summer league, only to realize that he was already so “famous”.

When Stephen Silas became the team’s assistant coach at the age of 27, he had already caused an uproar in the league. And now, Henson has become the team’s head coach at the age of 31, which is undoubtedly a depth bomb. To be precise, Henson has four months to turn 31.

The mystery of the draft, coupled with his young age, made Henson a ridicule for all reporters.

“I didn’t expect that I would be famous in this way.” Henson closed the newspaper in the taxi, but was not very upset, but just smiled.

In this regard, Stephenson must be very empathetic. After all, he was destined to have no good news as long as he was in the newspaper.

“Boss, you know, there are 23 teams participating in this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, plus we are 24. Are you sure, if you can’t win the championship, you have to lay off me? If we are runners-up What?” Stephenson looked at the desert on both sides of the Nevada highway. He didn’t know how many players came here expectantly, but were finally lost in this vast desert.

“Runner-up? I have never heard of a runner-up in a basketball game. Have you seen the NBA runner-up award ceremony? Anyway, I haven’t seen it. If you can’t even get the summer league championship for me, then you It must not be the guy for the Pacers either.”

Henson’s tone is unquestionable. The reason why he chose to participate in the Las Vegas Summer League this year is because of the greater competition in the Las Vegas Summer League! The less than double-digit participating teams in the Orlando Summer League can no longer satisfy Henson’s ambitions.

This year’s Las Vegas Summer League not only has 23 NBA teams participating, it also added an NBDL alliance, which is a team of several players who have the opportunity to enter the NBA from the entire development league. This team seems to be just a “sparring”, but in fact the desire of those people to enter the league is stronger. If they can beat NBA players, they will certainly be able to win the attention of NBA teams easily.

Therefore, this year’s Las Vegas Summer League is very interesting, but if you want to win, it is destined to be difficult.

But the reason why Henson is so confident is because he thinks that the summer league lineup he formed this year by Tovogel, in this June, is definitely considered very luxurious.

Henson did not take Stephenson to the hotel, but dragged a suitcase into a simple training hall rented by the team in the suburbs of Las Vegas.

When Henson opened the door of the training hall, he had already seen those familiar figures sweating on the training ground.

Zhu Holledi, a year of NBA experience, averaged 8 points and 3.8 assists per game last season. In the last 14 games and 10 wins, the data soared to 12.6 points and 6.6 assists per game. He was the MVP in the Orlando Summer League last year. Even if he comes to Las Vegas this year, Holiday will definitely be able to perform well with his current strength.

Wesley Matthews, who lost the draft last year, signed a two-year guarantee contract with the Pacers. This year is the contract year. He didn’t play much in the NBA last season, but was selected to the All-Star team in the NBDL, averaging 23.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. His defense and three-pointers are important weapons for the Texas Legends to reach the Finals.

Speaking of Matthews, I have to say that Danny Green, who is also a rookie selected by Henson last year, also signed a guaranteed contract with the Pacers, and also worked out in the NBDL for a year and took out Decent performance. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Together with Wesley Matthews, he was selected for the NBDL’s best defensive team. His wing combination with Matthews made the Texas Legends the most terrifying outside defense team in the entire development league!

In addition, Paul George is also working hard in the strength room. If the guy with a slightly thin body wants to adapt to NBA-level confrontation, proper weight gain and strength training are definitely indispensable. After all, basketball is a confrontational sport. If the confrontation is not at the same level, no matter how good the skill is, it is useless. George has worked very hard in the past few days. He is very grateful that Henson can pick himself in the lottery area, and the only way he can repay Henson is to score!

Finally, Henson got his wish and saw the second-year tower, Roy Hibbert with a height of 2.18 meters on the training ground!

Since Henson joined the coaching staff last season, he has helped Hibbert gain a lot of playing time. Last season, Hibbert averaged 25 minutes per game and played all 82 games, including 49 starts, averaging 12 points and 5 rebounds per game. These statistics seem unremarkable, as if not quite worthy of his playing time. But if you look at other aspects, when Hibbert is on the court, the Pacers only conceded 0.69 points per round, the best in the team. When Hibbert is away, the Pacers lose 2.01 points per round. Even if Henson is not a genius in mathematics, he can see the huge gap.

Hibbert may not be the kind of super center that crosses the age. He can’t blow up the opponent’s inside line and can’t completely dominate the three-second zone. But at least his defense is sufficiently deterrent. And most importantly, Henson needs Hibbert to play in the summer league, because he may play a bigger role this summer…

Now Henson brought in Stephenson, the mad dog. Frank Vogel didn’t know how Henson Hood could tidy up Stephenson, the “problem boy”, and Stephenson even helped him carry the suitcase. But he knew that after Stephenson also joined the summer league team, Henson’s idea of ​​winning in Las Vegas was no longer just a fantasy.

“Welcome to the Indiana Pacers, Lance.” Henson spread his hands. This feeling of being able to control everything without listening to Jim O’Brien is really cool!

Stephenson quickly joined the training. Although he is a **** in life, he is really a good player on the basketball court.

Standing on the sidelines, Vogel smiled. Holiday, George, Matthews, Green, Hibbert, plus Stephenson, their lineup is absolutely luxurious in the summer league.

Although there are no high-profile talented stars in the formation, each position is relatively balanced and there is no major weakness. Don’t underestimate the one-year NBDL experience of Matthews and Green. The NBDL is also a professional league, and its confrontation and level are not necessarily those that the little guys who just came out of college can bear. Not to mention Holiday and Hibbert, these two players with NBA resumes.

“Except for the number four position, we have an advantage in almost all aspects.”

“No, Frank. In fact, I plan to put four outside players on it.”

After listening to Henson, Vogel turned his head in surprise, “You mean, no power forward?”

“One Hibbert in the three-second zone is enough. Put Stephenson on the bench and he can perform like a mad dog as soon as he comes on the court. Let George go to the fourth position and let him know that he is still physically There is a disadvantage, so he knows to work harder. But what we need him to do is not defense, but offense.”

Vogel opened his mouth wide, four perimeters plus a tower, Henson’s formation is really weird.

“Don’t be surprised. We rely on fast-paced offensive conversions and more three-pointers to swallow most of the team’s defense. On the defensive end, all four of them are excellent perimeter defensive singles on the bench. The same is true for Lance. As for the inside line, if anyone thinks our inside line is good for bullying, let him go, but Hibbert will let him take the consequences. This is an experiment, Frank. In fact, this is not just a summer league. “The configuration of the game, I think in the future,” Henson said, showing his signature confident smile, “It is very likely that we will use a similar configuration to compete.”

Vogel knew Henson was crazy, but he didn’t expect that he might be even crazier than the “crazy scientist” old Nelson.

But Vogel did not raise any questions, because from the first day he met Henson, the Chinese has never missed it.